One of the most famous houses of the modern movement in architecture,
the Villa Savoye is a masterpiece of LeCorbusier's purist design. It is
perhaps the best example of LeCorbusier's goal to create a house which
would be a "machine a habiter," a machine for living (in). Located
in a suburb near Paris, the house is as beautiful and functional as a machine.
The Villa Savoye was the culmination of many years of design, and the basis
for much of LeCorbusier's later architure. Although it looks severe in
photographs, it is a complex and visually stimulating structure. As with
his church of Notre Dame du Haute, Ronchamp, the building looks different
from every angle. After falling into disrepair after the war, the house
has been restored and is open to the public.
The design features of the Villa Savoye include:

modulor design -- the result of Corbu's researches into mathematics,
architecture (the golden section), and human proportion

"pilotis" -- the house is raised on stilts to separate it
from the earth, and to use the land efficiently. These also suggest a modernized
classicism.

no historical ornament

abstract sculptural design

pure color -- white on the outside, a color with associations of newness,
purity, simplicity, and health (LeCorbusier earlier wrote a book entitled,
When the Cathedrals were White), and planes of subtle color in the interior
living areas